All dressed in white for church, but one boy already changed into play clothes

This is the prep classroom 

These girls are at the pump where they fill their buckets with water for everything.

Vincent, Clinton, and Dickson, three boys in the primary school.

In Cape Coast we stayed at a hotel that had alligators hanging with us.  They were pretty close!

This is at Kakum National Park, a canopy walkway that is high up with the trees!  It was a lot of fun and beautiful to see the rainforest from up there!

This is one true Ghanaian meal called Banku.  The white ball was the texture of sour dough but was pretty tasteless.  They don't use silver wear and eat with their right hand.  We rolled little pieces of the dough and then dipped it in the red sauce, then swallowed it without chewing.  

Adwoa and Matilda, two girls in JSS 1.  They are very smart and work so hard in school, I loved to be with these girls.

This is Lina, a girl in Kindergarten that would always find me when we went to the school at night and stick with me.  She loved to hold my bag and my hand - we were great friends!

Jumping at Shai Hills, we saw monkeys, antelope, bats, birds, and scorpians.  We also got our trotro stuck in this grassland and had quite the adventure getting it out.  

LaraLeigh, Catharine, and I

The girls wanted to learn some American style of dance so I taught them some ballet moves.  

It rained all the time, especially in July because of the rainy season!  Priscilla, Lina and I were hiding under the cover of my umbrella.

All of the girls in my group - plus a few Ghanaians!  Nicole, Charity, Kelsey, LaraLeigh, Brynn, Suzy, Catharine, Me and Lyndsey.

We took a trip to the Accra temple to do baptisms.  It was beautiful!

Our favorite treat - toasties.  Two thick slices of delicious bread coated with choco and peanut butter, toasted on the stove to a crispy delight!

Here is the Junior High School Prep class that I spent most of my time with teaching

Home Stretch

I can’t believe I really am on the home stretch! Two months has been a good amount of time to spend here, but I just can’t imagine saying goodbye to these kids. I sat in class today just looking at the prep students working and it made me want to cry, I love them all! And then there are all the younger kids I have gotten close to – it’s going to be rough. But so good at the same time, I can’t help but look forward to a comfortable bed, warm shower, a blow dryer and straightener, make-up, different clothes to wear and American food.

Last Thursday we all went to the town Koforidua to a local bead market. Tent after tent was filled with colorful beads all shapes and sizes either hung on strings or losely available to make your own jewelry. The people were not pressing to buy things which was nice so we were able to just meander around their little tables for an hour or two. It was raining all that morning but luckily cleared up by the time we got there. It really feels like every since July hit it has just been super rainy and cloudy and not much sun out which is nice but actually much cooler than I expected. I actually get the chills sometimes in the morning at school if my hair is wet. The one other downside is if I use the bucket water that has been sitting in the bathroom all night for my shower then it is extra cold – it’s quite the wake-up! Anyways, the bead market was really awesome but there were so many that it was overwhelming.

One afternoon when I went to the school in the afternoon I had my umbrella because it was raining. When we walk down this hill to get to the school the kids often see us and come running from far away to give us a big hug and walk the rest of the way down. After then ran up we sauntered our way back down with as many little girls crammed under my one man umbrella as possible. The pulled out long wood benches to sit on and we spent the afternoon stuck under the dining cover playing games of pass the animal or hand clapping rhythms. They all want your attention, some to cuddle, others grabbing at your face, others standing back acting shy, and kids asking me for band-aids. I finished all of my band-aids now so it is actually nice to be able to just say they are all finished. This weekend I started teaching the waltz and that has been a hit with a few students. The little kids hit their way into my arms so I will teach them and some of the JSS boys will stand back and watch as if they don’t want anything to do with it, but then when they think I’m not looking I see them doing the steps. It is pretty funny. There is one boy named Daniel who is in P-4 who is always the first to join in anything like dancing – ballet, waltz, and then braiding my hair J He is the best, and actually was really talented with the dancing. He makes me laugh.

One night a boy from the High School came and taught Charity and I how to play some drum rythms. He was really good and I caught on but couldn’t remember the rhythms. He expected me to play the rhythm once and then be able to do it on my own after that – it was like the girls teaching us dancing where we see it once and then are supposed to know it after that.
Saturday morning was really adventurous. As you probably heard, Obama came to Ghana last Friday and Saturday. He spent time in Accra and Cape Coast. Well I had to go to Accra to find my stolen bag of material and other things from the art district. It was just three of us, Lyndsey and Charity came with me. We were in traffic for about 2 ½ hours trying to get into the city because of Obama. They had closed some of the main roads down so everyone was taking a one way back road. When I got to the art district the man that had taken my bag was, of course, not there. Another man ended up paying for the items that were in the bag so I was able to replace the fabric. It was difficult to find what I wanted. We were in Accra for about 3 hours and then got back on a 2 hour trotro back home in the afternoon. It was a long morning! As our big yellow trotro ride home pulled out of the station one man directly in front of the mate stood and faced the car full of people. He began speaking in Twi and as I looked around noticing bowed heads and closed eyes I realized that he was praying! Then I thought he was a preacher after they said amen & he continued talking until he started pulling a variety of leaves, seeds, pepper, and plants out of his black leather bag. I then realized he was a medicine man trying to sell his various remedies. For two hours he was trying to talk up his drugs (at least I think, he was speaking in twi the whole time so who really knows) for the people to buy and I randomly heard the words Malaria, Fever, and Vomit. And a few people actually bought the stuff from him! At one point he passed around this pepper that a few stuck on their fingers and sniffed up their noses. Not long after they continuously sneezed up for the ride home – the man next to Charity sneezed on her and she had the most disguested look on her face, it was really funny. And other Ghanaians were laughing too. It was interesting.

We went to church with the Primary and Junior High students for our last Sunday here. We all wore our African clothes and jewelry and the kids loved it! During their singing time I got up their and led a song that some girls had taught me before. All of us got up and signed “As I Have Loved You”. That song was quite the different rhythm than their African songs. Sunday evening at the school Sylvia, a deaf-blind girl, asked for me to teach her some dancing. She was really strong as I pulled her back and forth. We swayed to our own rhythm and I made up some little steps. She is super smart and a very spiritual person – she likes to tease too. I was just amazed with how quickly she catches on to everything. I think she really enjoyed dancing like that.

Today I got to help in the hair school for the vocational students about a beautician. They have started to introduce the students to that salon. It is really nice inside this one room building. They have tile floor and nice countertops, desks with padded chairs and big hair dryers that hang from the wall. The walls are covered in mirrors – which is actually really funny with the students because they sign to each other all the time through them. The teachers that help know a few signs but not much so I helped explain different things for her. They also have two big sinks like in one of our salons for washing hair. I think it will be a great source for the students to learn!
Until we leave the plan is to just be at the school everyday, and we will say goodbye to them on Friday night then leave early Saturday morning.


Honestly my favorite time of the day is just being able to work one on one with any of the students or playing games with the children. I don’t think that I could ever become a teacher for real. I am excited to show you all pictures so you can see these beautiful children. This whole experience has been very spiritual for me, I know that the Lord loves all of these children so much! There are a lot of corrupt things that happen at the school with the teachers and with the whole system but there is still hope for these kids. This experience is one I will never forget.

A few stories

Happy 4th of July.

We didn’t quite have the 4th of July celebration, but we did have Ghana Republic day on July 1st that was the same sort of holiday! Most businesses were shut down and families were all out together. Our school was on holiday so we decided to go visit some waterfalls that are about 2 hours away from us. The doctor that we are renting our guest house from has a daughter in the local junior high school. Their class was going to the same waterfalls and offered to let us join their group. It worked out perfectly, the 9 of us piled in the giant green trotro with 15 other thirteen year old kids and their leaders making one smelly ride. They seemed really excited to have the whities with them for the day. One little boy named Kelvin stuck close to us the whole day and then at the end he asked for my phone number… they learn at a young age haha it was really funny. On the drive, we went past towns where people were all out celebrating the day with giant speakers blaring Obama music. I love the road trip to new towns because we pass a lot of beautiful greenery and mud hut homes.

The first waterfall was Akaa and the second was Boti falls. The second was much bigger but both had really brown water that didn’t look very beautiful. There were SO many people and we were literally shoulder to shoulder walking down these steps to the falls. I learned that you have to be aggressive here to get where you want to go. There really were no manners or any courtesy because we were cut off and shoved to the side the whole time. But they are all so friendly to each other at the same time, everyone talks to everyone and they are all out to have a good time. We were called after the entire day and it was the funniest thing to the people if we spoke one word in Twi. It was a day of madness. At Boti falls after seeing the water we went on a hike to umbrella rock that was more of a hike than we expected. The Ghanaians were not dressed well for the event either, many in tight jeans or their little party dresses on. But they were climbing up the mountain just the same, and helping each other along the way. I was so amazed at a few women who had big tins of boiled eggs on their heads and a baby on their back climbing alongside us. The mountain was really steep and slippery! At the top they somehow had gotten huge speakers to blast some music and have a dance party. It was HOT and crowded and a lot of Twi goin’ on. It took awhile to gather all of the students back together at the end of the day. It was a break from school, but not much of a break because we were on our feet the whole day. It was a lot of fun!

Last week during breakfast time I went into the school’s library with Suzy to see what it was like. One room with two walls with about three shelves each full of books. They were donated by someone from Europe and had mostly old books in all different subjects. What made us a little angry was that we realized all of the materials the teachers really have to help teach the students with pictures and good stories, but they aren’t taking advantage of what they have! I don’t think they realize what they have or are too lazy to try to find better ways to teach the students. Part of the school has a vocational section where students who aren’t able to pass the state tests go and learn some sort of skill whether it is sewing or cooking or doing hair. They do this in hopes to give them a certificate so they can work after school somewhere. They have classes at the same time for English and math. They all came into the library, about 6 or 7 students, and were trying to read different story books. Suzy and I spent some time going through reading books with them and it was such an amazing experience. They were so eager to learn and acted so excited about any sort of sign you could help them with. I sat back and really could feel the love that God has for those kids. One girl’s name is Bernice and she told me about how her father is dead and she hasn’t seen her mother since she was 7. She lives at the school year round, and she is so happy. I loved working with her reading through a pottery story because when I tried to explain a word she would give me a lot of feedback and put the word into her own story. Another girl’s name is Dita and she is 23 but I think she has another disability that makes her act like a young teenager. She is the sweetest thing and is always smiling. I worked were her for a long time doing division and she just wasn’t understanding it, but she never got frustrated, she kept on smiling and acted so excited to do what she could.

On Friday the Ghana’s Most Beautiful woman came to the school. It is like the Miss America coming to a school at home so it was a big deal for everyone. They had breakfast early so they could set up the dining area for the visitor. She said she would be there at 10 but wasn’t there until 11:30 – typical of the culture. I don’t understand why they are so bad about that. This woman knew some sign language because her parents were deaf so the kids were really excited when she signed a little bit to them. It wasn’t very clear to me but they students seemed to understand, but they may have been just acting like they did. When she met Sylvia the deaf blind student she had a disgusted look on her face as Sylvia felt her to see what she looked like. When an event like that happens at the school there is no school because there’s no hope of getting any of the students back in the classrooms to do anything for the rest of the day.

One student Amegashie helped me make this paper crane and I still had it when we all stood outside to take a picture. The young kids saw and I have never seen a flapping piece of paper make kids so happy. They all wanted to try it so the little crane got passed around and kids were smacking each other to get a turn. The joys of bringing anything to show.

Friday afternoon I went to the school with Kelsey and the little boys had a small lemon with chunks poked out that they were kicking around so I joined in. We were playing keep away and chase the lemon while giggling for a long time until some of the older primary boys had a real ball. We all ran over to the field and played soccer! They thought it was the best thing that I was running around with them! At the same time there were some young kids that had a kite they were chasing after so I just ran around all afternoon until they had dinner. I was really sweaty on my back and so they all kept asking me why I had water on my back. That was one of the funnest experiences to just run around and play soccer with the kids!

Saturday our morning started at 3:40 AM to journey to Shai Hills. Our trotro was late, but we still got there as the sun was coming up. There were wild baboons that came up right next to our car and one mom had a baby on its back. We got a tour guide named Abraham who was very excited to show us the land. Shai was this big grassland with a small mountain in the middle and sparse trees around. It looks a little bit like Lion King. We weren’t supposed to drive our trotro through because it wasn’t made for it but Abraham gave the go ahead so we went 4-wheelin through the rocks and dirt. We hiked up to the Asanti Cave and got to see a big cave full of bats. It smelled awful! But I got to climb through small spaces and hang upside down on branches so it was really fun. We also got to see a lot of antelope and birds. Our trotro was able to creep really slowly up to a pack before they took off, same with a big group of baboons.

We headed on the dirt road back home which turned to med and then suddenly we were stuck! Like really stuck. 1 ½ hours stuck in clay. We got out of the care and tried to push – 9 girls and 2 boys – but it wasn’t budgin. We tried putting trees under the wheel, had Tylka drive the clutch as we rocked the thing, Abraham tried cleaning the wheels out, we tried it without giving it gas and the trotro was not going to move. Then we decided to say a prayer. Abraham was amazing, he had the most positive attitude for the entire time. We were standing there when all of a sudden he was like Scorpian and grabbed the thing right by our feet. It stung him! When we tried calling the reception for some people to come help they got mad at Abraham because we weren’t supposed to drive the trotro out there in the first place. And it’s Africa so even if help was coming it would have taken For-e-ver. Well our prayers were truly answered when a Toyota Front runner pulled up that had some Australians and Ghanaians willing to help us. We tied a rope between the two cars and will all of us pushing were able to pull the tro-freakin-tro out of the clay. We were all screaming and clapping, Kelsey cried and Abraham high-fived us all. Mud covered, thirsty, and hungry we celebrated by listening to “Eye of the Tiger” and cautiously made our way back to the paved road. It made the whole adventure very memorable day.

The big event coming up for Ghana this week is Obama visiting the country on Friday. Everyone is very excited. At church on Sunday the man giving the opening prayer mentioned being thankful that “His excellency, even President Barrack Obama is visiting our chosen country of Ghana”. It was really funny. At church we met an LDS girl named Lauren who is from the US and is here all alone! She is living at the orphanage she works at just outside of Madina. I don’t know who she is doing it all by herself, I think that would be so lonely and unsafe! She said that her friend was going to come with her but couldn’t last minute so she just decided to come anyways. I am really impressed with what she is doing, and it also made me so grateful for my own group that I’m with. The girls are so awesome and I am happy to share this experience with them. One more week before we head home.

Ghana and Vomit

This week started out amazing and ended a little rough but is on the uphill again. Ill start with the good stuff.

School is starting to get down to the wire because the kids have tests the Monday after we leave here that determine if they are able to move onto the next class. JSS Prep is one of the biggest deciding classes to see who can move into JSS 1. I was told that only 5 girls and 5 boys are able to move. With 18 kids in my class, more girls than boys, it makes me really sad that a lot of them wont be able to continue with their education! I really dont understand why that is a rule for their school, and if they follow it for sure. I know that JSS 2 has more than 5 girls in it so I am not sure how that happened.

In the mean time teachers such as the science and social studies teachers are taking advantage of the extra time they are allotted to finish the material they are supposed to teach and havent yet. It is good because at least they have a teacher, but bad because the kids are bored with one subject really quickly and dont pay attention. It is so confusing to the teachers that just copying something off the blackboard doesnt help them understand the English. The problem is even if the kids may understand a concept in something like math, if they dont understand the instructions they still wont be able to answer correctly. I am often overwhelmed with trying to teach something with English because they forget the basics so fast AND many of the prep students dont show the desire to pay attention for very long.

The weather has cooled off so much since we first got here, we are definitely in the Rainy season now! Suzy and I helped the social studies teacher give a lesson the other day about the two seasons. They only have wet and dry. The wet season is from March to October but June/July are the rainiest parts. Mampong is up on a hilly area compared to Accra and I have been surprised at night because we dont use our fan anymore and I have gotten a little chilly!

On Friday I worked on some math problems with a girl named Belinda in my class. She is really interesting, sometimes hard to work with her because she wont let me finish explaining before she tries to guess how to do the problem. She is really smart and catches on quickly though. She doesn't smile very much, but I had her giggling a little when I would pull faces if she made a mistake. Another primary school student named Priscilla (she helps me wash my clothes every week, she is in P-5) came into the room and so we started doing English. We all discussed nouns and made lists of examples. It was difficult but I think we made some progress! Honestly, individual work is the best way to be sure they understand the concept.

One of the teachers I work with the most often is the prep science teacher named Margaret. She tries signing and is ok, but pretty difficult to understand, and I know the kids don't understand her very well. She is really nice though and really cares about the students, wants them to at least stay in the classroom and not be idle. On Friday she gave me this little wood stick and said it was called sorkordua (so-ko-dwea) or chewing wood in English. She told me that a long time ago people would chew on it to build strong teeth, then use the frayed end to brush their teeth. She had broken hers in half so I felt a little obligated to try the thing. It was REALLY bitter and tasted like I was chewing on a piece of wood. She told me that it was good to drink water after because it becomes sweet. It also helps you if youre feeling nauseous to keep it down. I could only chew on it for so long and had to toss it. Margaret was chewing away on hers and it was gone within the hour.

On Friday I went to the high school because a community building group was visitng to help the school by donating rice, a big polytank of water, and toilet paper. They were also helping repaint some of the buildings. I guess they were here last year to help the school and were impressed with how appreciative they were so they wanted to give again. The students signed a song and did some really awesome cutlural dances. After I went back to the primary school because P-4 and P-6 were playing a soccer game. The little girls including Lina and Ruth played with me. We wrote names in the dirt and then my notebook was passed around for the kids to write their names. They love to see me write all of our family names whether it is on paper or in the dirt to see if any are the same as one of their names. That is when it started raining... and continued raining for about 4 hours! We were dragged under the coverage for the dining hall and were stuck there while the kids ate and then played. We had no food and no bathroom :) It turned out to be one of my favority afternoons! When I finally decided to get wet, a huge group of all the older primary girls and the JSS girls were out dancing in the rain. We did some African & Ballet moves that they were so interested in trying. We then did the math song that I made up in a huge circle and they were so into it, it was SO much fun! We were all soaking wet after and giggling with each other. It was an unforgettable experience.

My week wasn't so good at the end because I woke up Sunday night very sick from 1:30 to 5:30 in the morning. I soon found out 3 other girls, Kelsey, Catharine, and Charity were all sick as well, so we were all the sicklings home in bed for the day. I am doing so much better today, so no worries. We were trying to figure out what it might be, but figured that it was just a bug that affected us all. The Kibi group came to stay over the weekend and we all went to the temple on Saturday.

The sweetest thing was the students. A group of 4 came to the house in the afternoon while Kelsey and I were laying in bed. One girl named Bernice said she was going to pray for us. She signed a prayer that included that the devil would not get our bodies so that we may become strong again :) They were all really worried. Two other girls came by and brought some bread. When I went back to school today some were asking me if I went to the hospital and many said they prayed for me. I think the hospital must be more of a casual thing to go to if you are sick for just a day.

The temple was, of course, an incredible experience. The spirit was so strong and it felt like we were home. I ran into the mission presiden'ts wife outside the temple and she said that her husband was first called as an area president for 2 years and then he was just called as the mission president so they will be here for 5 years total! Crazy! I am sure that their home is really nice, but with unreliable power and everything that would be hard! She had her own car but I would be scared to death to drive here.

Time is slipping away. I am excited to be with everyone again, but I will be so sad to be gone from these kids. It's going to be super bitter sweet. Everyone is getting along pretty well still and I really love our whole group. Until next week.....

Ma Aha!

Yes there are a lot of kids I would like to bring home! The most frustrating thing is seeing the kids that have so much potential and are willing to work so hard but there are a few problems.

First, teachers don't show up to the class they should teach. Second, most don't know the language or aren't skilled enough to explain things the way they should. Third, they don't have many resources or the money for things like hands on projects for the kids or posters. It is so important with deaf children to be able to see what you are trying to explain - it needs to be concrete, not abstract. Fourth, the teachers have the attitude themselves that the students are lazy and don't want to learn. In my opinion they really do want to learn, but how can they with the environment they're in - and at the JHS they are at an age that most don't really care about school! I remember in Jr. High the kids don't act like they care about anything but friends, it is the same here. So it's tough, they really have a lot of potential but they just don't have what they need to really progress.

I am more attached to the Junior High Students because they are the ones I help the most. But I also have a few primary kids that I am really attached to! It's funny how certain kids from the first day just attach to the volunteers and from that day forward stick with you. I'll tell about a few of the kids I'm really close with.

Soloman is in P-3 which is like 3rd or 4th grade. He has the biggest eyes and at the moment a shaved bald head. He is really smart, and taught me how to play this really fun rock game. I snuck gum to him last night and it was hilarious watching him. I told him to hide while I pulled it out so other kids didn't see so he was darting his eyes all around and not looking at me acting like nothing was going on. He put his head down on the table and I slipped the gum into his hand, he popped it in his mouth, and had the biggest grin but wouldn't look at me.

This little girl that is P-0 (kindergarten) always stays close to me. I don't know her name because she doesn't know it fingerspelled yet, but her sign name is a U on her forehead. She loves to carry my bag on her back and hold my hand. I let her follow me into the JSS in the evening and she is really shy with the older students and acts really shy when I look at her. She is adorable. One day I was talking wtih some kids and she sat next to me so I scratched her back a little, then she tried to scratch mine. She doesn't really sign, but can understand a little bit. Most of the young primary kids just gesture for most things.

Fredrick is in P-4, he is SUPER skilled with sign language for being his age. He told me that his dad is rich and so he has an XBOX in his home. His favorite thing is to describe the different games that he has and it is so funny. My favorite is when he does Mario and imitates him jumping up to the blocks with his head, a mushroom coming out, then him growing big. I told him about the Wii and he thought it was cool too. He is my assistant when I give out band-aids because he loves to put the Neosporin on the band-aid.

They have a game here that is similar to Mancala with nuts in little slots that they like to play. They have lost all the nuts though so they use rocks.

The middle school and the Primary school are right next to each other. The girls live just above the JHS and the boys live in a separate building above their little Library and computer room. The high school is a lot further away, but those students live in separate boy and girl dorms that are really close to the other schools. The high school students walk to school everyday - about a 10 or 15 minute walk. They are all on the same schedule for going home. This term ends July 30th and they will all go to their homes until September or October.

I really have no idea what their home life is like. I know some kids that I've talked to say they live with one parent, maybe a sibling, maybe their aunt. They don't like to go home because they have no one to really communicate with there. Signs of Hope started sending volunteers here in both the fall and the summer now so they get volunteers twice a year. But in Mampong they probably won't get volunteers again until next summer, and the group will all go to the other town Kibi. It is about 3 hours north of here.

The weekend of the 4th we are going to travel to Shai Hills where we get to feed some monkeys! I'm excited. Last Friday at the school they had "track meet" for high school students from different schools nearby. They just have this patchy grass field and so they marked lines around it by cutting the grass and used that as the track to run around. I didn't get to watch much because I was helping in the classroom, but it was really interesting to see!

I met quite a few new high school students from the deaf school - I haven't visited their school since the first week we were here. All of the schools want more volunteers to work with them. I can see that it would be frustrating in the high school because they are at a level where they need and desire the individual tutoring.

The area we are in is both beautiful and very dirty. There is so much greenery and we are in a hilly area, but clean is a relative term here in Africa. What we consider clean here would be really dirty at home. Except for laundry...on the day you wash... if an African is helping you. They are good at getting stains out of your clothes by hand washing! Some places like Accra or Kafordua definitely feel much more dirty than Mampong, but I wouldn't call anything clean.

For dinner last night we had true Ghanaian food - it was called Banku. It was this sourdough-like substance (tasted nothing like dough though) that you tear a small piece off and dip it in spicy red sauce. We also had fried fish - a whole fish including the head, eyes, teeth and bones. It is eaten with your hands but only your right hand because your left hand is considered to be super dirty. You don't chew the Banku, just stick it in and swallow it because it's so sticky. I didn't really like it but I ate it all! The fish was really good.

It has been raining for two days now! I played in it with some students yesterday and had so much fun! We are planning a trip to the temple on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. Erica and I went last year and loved the peacefulness and people we met. Until next week....

Vacation within my vacation.....Is this a vacation? :)

This has been a great week. I'm becoming so close with all the kids. I love them all and we are becoming the best of friends!

The town is a lot like where I was before - I would say there is some difference from place to place. Our school is one of a few in Mampong so it's definitely not an isolated village. We live outside of the main town - which is basically just the main paved road with sellers along the sides spread out. There is one main paved road that it is easy to get a taxi or trotro from and everything else is dirt road. The stores really all seem the same from town to town, they have stacks of cans or packages of things hanging from the shack. People walk up and down the road with things to sell on their heads - that is more common in the bigger cities.

We had a little excursion of our own this past weekend. We left on Friday to cape coast. The group from Kibi joined us making sixteen people to ride in a little trotro for about 5 hours - plus our driver Emmanuel and his mate Donquah. It was a little squishy with 3 or 4 people in a row I spent the majority of the time in the backseat corner with low ceilings, hard seats, squeaking metal, with one leg on the wheel cover and a window easily slid open or shut. I loved the trip though because there are so many things to look at, new smells, and new people that are so different than the normal everday American life.

The road is typically one way but cars will not hesitate to pass each other. During one long stretch there were two sets of 5 speed bumps that came up about every minute creating an uncomfortable ride. We drove past a lot of greenery, mud hut homes, city life, and ocean. Because it is usually one way there is a lot of traffic through some areas and that is where the sellers come up to our window staring the obrunies down. Everyone was white in the trotro so they think it is a great selling spot.

I will never forget this one man selling grapes. We had already gone about 40 yards past the man and someone in my group decided they wanted some. His friend, meaning another street salesman selling apples heard her and called out for the grape man. We turned around and from behind a big truck out darted the grape man arms full and held out wide sprinting towards are car. It was hilarious. He made a good sale though so I guess it was worth it for him. He had to run alongside the car as we kept slowly going along to give us change. This happens to a lot of the sellers actually because traffic is still moving so they have to be good at getting quick change. You could basically drive down the road in some areas and get everything you need without getting out of the car - pretty convenient I guess :) From flags, windshield wipers, food, air fresheners, clocks, razors, or soap they had it all.

We stayed at a hotel which was a luxory in my opinion! But really it would have been a ghetto place if I stayed somewhere like that at home. I had running water and a sort of shower that had a little heater to warm up some of the water!! That was amazing. And our hotel had a big pond surrounding an eating place with crocodiles! I ate mashed potatoes one night served with a full fried fish, eyeball and everything. That was.. interesting. Pretty tasty. The next night I had french fries and imitation ice cream and I was in heaven :) I was excited for my hard bed, my big hard pillow, sheets, a squeeking fan, and a bug filled swimming pool.

Cape Coast itself is much more crowded than Mampong and the homes are much closer together. People didn't seem quite as friendly as they are in our town. Saturday was so much fun and full. We went to Kakrum National Park with the canopy walkway that is above the main tree line. It was beautiful! I saw a spider that was probably the size of a tennis ball, not so fat though. The walkway has plenty of rope but it is still shaky. The best part was it rained most of the time, and we were in a rainforest so it created the perfect situation. We went to two slave castles in the afternoon, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina. Those are very sobering places, it's so different seeing something like that personally than reading it in a book. I went to all of these places last summer so it was fun to visit it all again. Although one time is enough to get the idea at the slave castles - it is pretty draining to hear about the cruelty of the people there. Plus getting the tour from an African man is quite the experience.

Saturday night we ate at a beach and got to play along the shore. I didn't actually swim because it was later at night, but we got some fun jumping pictures!

It was fun to start back at the school on monday morning after a good break from everything. Suzy and I made up some fun games to play with the kids to help them learn their English and multiplications. I am officially halfway through the trip! I love being into more of a routine, and yet it's not really a routine because I never really know what to expect for school. The students are so much fun and I am so happy to be at the Junior High.

I am out of time now, there is so much more I could say about my experience here and the people, I can't wait to show you all my videos and pictures. There will be plenty :)

It's summertime

It is officially summer at home now with school out. I am definitely getting into the routine of things now. It's been nice so far this week because for the majority of the time I have had teachers actually show up in the prep class. I will usually sit there while they teach the main lesson and then they are given exercises to work on so I will go around and work with them individually. I feel the most effective when I do that because I feel like I can catch up those kids that are behind. One thing that I am learning is that they have to be willing themselves.

A big problem, no HuGE problem at the school is cheating. That is what the students know how to do - copy off of each other. I have been trying to focus on keeping them focused on their own work. Today for their science they were learning how to classify crops into three different groups based on their growth cycles. There was a paper going around that someone had copied during the lesson so I had to take it away, but there is only so much that I can do :) Because they sign to each other it is super easy to do that behind your back. But we all have a lot of fun and we laugh when I catch them copying now because they know I won't let them do it. It is really fun for me at this point because I feel like I have a closer relationship with all of the students in the prep class now - and they are used to having me there to help.

Before our math lesson the teacher noticed that all of the kids were really tired and not paying attention. He did some stand up, sit down exercises and then told them to run around the building twice. The boys took off pretty fast but the girls were moving slow so I jumped up and started pushing and pulling them out the door. I ran with them and they thought that was pretty funny - I was pushing them along the whole time :)

One of the boys in my class is super tiny for his age! But he has a TON of attitude, he pulls the biggest faces all the time and struts everywhere he goes. It makes me laught when he wants my help because if I tell him he answers a question wrong he is CONVINCED that he really is right until I can prove him wrong. His name is Bernard. Such a little punk, but he is a lot of fun. When I got back into the class he asked if I could really run and then challenged me to a race later today. We will see how that goes :) They are quick to point out someone who did something wrong. As soon as I got back in the room kids would point to those who only ran around the building once. I see them getting mad at each other a lot for not looking at the teacher too, or leaving the classroom when they're not supposed to. It's pretty crazy how much movement happens in one day. Definitely not like any school day at home in America.

Over the weekend I went with a couple girls to Kafordua to just go explore for the afternoon. Literally everywhere we walked we had people in the trotros and taxis asking us "Where are you going" and then we'd have to respond "We are staying" over and over again. The bad thing is they couldn't really understand us either so after awhile we just stopped answering them. We decided to get ingredients and make Guacamole because it was Lindsey's birthday on Saturday. It was really interesting buying food at the little market because when we went to one stand all of the people would start calling us to go and buy something from them. We walked down a narrow area looking for Limes and it smelled aweful because they had all this meat just laying out. So many flies! Ah! The fish looked aweful just baking in the sun. There were also huge snails that one woman was selling - so disgusting.

I have become the band-aid woman at the primary school now. That is good and bad. Good because the young kids always have these huge gashes, mostly because they beat on each other, and so they really do need covered. Bad because I started to put band-aids on a few kids so now all of them come up to me and want something for every little scratch. And they bug the other volunteer girls for band-aids too. It is a lot of fun to be Miss Nurse to the kids and clean their wounds then put a band-aid on it, but I have a feeling that was a bad thing to start because it will be never ending. They are adorable after I finish though because they sign a huge thank you. The kids are super tough! Not only do they barely move when I'm cleaning with little alcohol swabs, but if I had a scratch like that when I was a little girl I would be bawling when I first got it and they are barely phased.

We are traveling this weekend with the Kibi volunteers to Cape Coast for 4 days so I am really excited. We will visit the slave castles, go to the canopy walk, stay in some hotels and go to the beach. I think the drive is like 6-7 hours which is really long, but I think it will be a good break for everyone to do something new for the weekend. Thats all for now.....

3 weeks today - June 4, 09

It's been an amazing day, we didn't have school. They just opened up a hair salon at the school that is a place for the students who choose to go to vocational school to learn how to style hair. It's a great thing because hair is such a big business for women in Ghana and it provides them a lot more opportunity for a good job when they finish school. This building was really really nice. Probably one of the nicest I have seen anywhere in Ghana - especially considering it is at the school. It was provided by L'Oreal and people from that company all traveled up from Accra. They had a big celebration for the opening of it including dances performed by some of the students for their guests. They gave out t-shirts and lunch to everyone and it was all a big celebration! I wish I could add video from it but the software here won't allow me to put a video on. But don't worry, I have a lot of videos and pictures so far.

It really is madness when you pull out a camera at school, and the worst is that they all want a picture by themselves :) Tomorrow will not be a very big school day either because it is Friday and Friday never lasts long for school :)

I am really loving it this week, I am finally into the routine of things and becoming so much more comfortable with everything. Three weeks today! So many ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for anything and I love all of the relationships I am forming here. We had true African food for lunch today with all of the kids and it was really interesting - I don't even know how to describe it but it was delicious - and the chicken was really spicy!! Learning more each day!

I have pictures!

I hope to have more pictures up later! It takes a long time to upload the pictures and these are all from my video camera where I can't put up any videos because of the software here. The majority of my pictures are on another camera that I don't have a cord for. I'm excited that I got a few up! Enjoy!

These are all teens in the JSS varying a lot in age! From left to right there is Elie, Joyce, Mary, Isaac, Adwoa, and Bernice. They are all amazing!

This is Kelsey by a beautiful little area we found while exploring near our home. We are surrounded by beautiful greenery and it is always an adventure to take a walk around.

Pulling faces after class! There is Samuel who goes to the vocational school next door, me, Amegashie Emanuel who is in JSS 2. In front is a girl who stays close to my side whenever I visit after class from the primary school named Sarah and then another Samuel from the class I usually teach.

This is in my classroom at the JSS with one of my students Andy and two other girls from the primary school. This was my African hairstyle for awhile!

June 2, 09

How has the weather been at home, is it really hot? The weather here is crazy because it will be burning hot and then the next minute it is POURING rain, harder than I have ever seen before. Then it will clear up and be hot and humid again all in the same day. Just the other day Kelsey and I danced out in the rain for a long time and it was so so fun. We were in an African rainstorm!! It was awesome :) Last weekend we went to a wedding! A true Ghanaian wedding for a deaf man named Marco marrying a hearing woman named Hannah. It was an adventure! Their wedding was just at a home in Kafordua, about an hour drive from here. We were told that we should be there promptly at 9:00. We were a few minutes late since we picked up the Kibi group but to my surprise we were the first ones there! We sat on plastic chairs under a tent and for the next 3 hours watched the decorations get put up including a few balloons, fake flowers, a small cake, wine glasses on a small table, and blasting music. There were chickens walking around this lawn and a little boy during the slow comotion dropped his pants and peed in front of us... more than once. More guests slowly arrived and the bride and groom were walking around in other clothes. It was way interesting for awhile, but then an hour passed and the novelty of it all was also gone. When we sat there I guess going on inside the house was this big ceremonial trade where the bride's parents with her & the groom's parents and him sit and discuss things. The groom gives this bag of things I guess he promises at the engagement and they were clapping & cheering every once in awhile. There was no wedding song or walking down the aisle. They had a man give a screaming openeing prayer :) The whole thing was in the language Twi but they did kiss and dance - people danced around them. Then they sat at a long table facing us and I guess it was time for the after party "reception". Well first they read scripture and a man added something to it every verse - he yelled it. At times the parents would dance or a man tried to sell hankercheifs for a few dollars and that money I'm guessing would go to the bride and groom. also, they could pay a dollar to pop a balloon. They were so excited that people from another country came to their wedding. Eventually they brought out food and we got to eat it too. It reminded me of a family barbeque, but everyone was dressed in African clothes and we had chicken and rice. It was really spicy, but delicious! We each gave about $5 for the couple and left. It was a long morning, but fun. We don't live close to really anything special, we have to take a taxi either here in Aburi or Akropong - both the same distance either north or south of our town because the internet doesn't work there. I'm really starting to get into a routine now, and the nights are either spent back at the school to help tutor/teach or in our house talking with some high school students. I don't like to stay home, I prefer to leave but I try to be flexible :) It's hard. I go running here now about every other day. The people really stare when we run by because not only are they not used to a white person, but a running white person with an iPod is something to laugh at here - it's pretty entertaining for them. This town Aburi has the wood district where we will be going after this. We are planning on going into Accra - it's about 2 hours from here - sometime soon and do some shopping there. No I am not forgetting how to talk :) I wish I was signing that much, but I definitely don't say as many words in the day because of school. The other night I went to the school and a little boy named Soloman taught me this rock game where you throw up a rock & pick up 5, then catch the thrown rock. There is a lot of variation to that game. He had the tiniest hands, but he was so quick. When I finally could do it too his eyes lit up, he was so proud of me! It was way cute :) Another little boy named Stephen drew a picture of me today and it is really good! I couldn't believe his art skills! He is probably in about 4th grade and he was amazing. Kelsey, Lyndsey and I traveled to Madina to go to the LDS ward on Sunday. It was their stake conference so we saw the area president who was white and ran into a couple of white missionaries. It was a really great meeting and we were so proud of ourselves for finding our way there! They had many of the new converts get up to give their testimonies. I love going to church because it just feels like home. We had to walk through this crazy market to get there that smelled terrible, but people are really helpful if you ask them where to go and how to get somewhere. I love these kids and I am loving this experience, it is tough but so rewarding and I can already see how hard it is going to be to leave these kids because I am creating such great friendships with them. When I worked with the kids last year I bonded with them and that was so short so I can tell that leaving these students is going to be difficult. More to come next week.

May 28, 09

Teaching is getting better but it is still super difficult. I am saying that on a good day, meaning that I felt good about what I did today, but it just depends on the day. I just feel like even if I had perfect ASL I wouldn't be able to explain some of these concepts to the kids because they just don't have a solid language foundation. So it requires being creative... and good artistic skills :) The teachers are pretty negative and always say that the kids just don't want to learn, all they do is play and eat all day. I wish they were more encouraging for the kids.

The girls are getting along really well considering 9 girls all in one house. We really haven't had any issues. We told the teachers that we didn't want to take over a subject, but that we were there to just assist in teaching and work one on one with the students. Let me just tell you my day so you get an idea of what it is typically like.

Usually we go to the school at 8:00, but this morning everyone had worship together so we decided to go when they would be finished with breakfast, which is 9:50. When I got there I went into my classroom, JSS Prep, and the teacher was sitting in the corner with "Integrated Science Test" written on the board followed by 10 questions. The kids all had their notebooks out copying the questions and trying to answer, sneaking their books out when the teacher wasn't looking to copy down any word from that chapter - which made no sense because they didn't really even understand what the question was asking. It was all about hazards, including signs like Danger, and a skull with cross bones = Toxic. So I asked the teacher if I could explain the questions to the students and she told me no, she wanted the students to try first.As I sat there, another teacher came in to talk to mine in another language - who knows what they were saying. They often answer their phones while their are teaching. She (my teacher) then told me about her life and where she was going to school herself etc. while the kids were all copying each other's papers. Then a woman selling peanuts on her head came up to the window (4 big open spaces with nothing blocking it) and that was quite the distraction as a few kids got some, even the teacher told one of the students to get her some because she was too lazy to get up and walk over there. When they finish they hand the books to me and the teacher (Mary) wanted me to make corrections, so I did with a red pen and handed it back. It was then time for Social Studies - but that teacher had come and left to a teacher's meeting - which they always for some reason hold during school hours - so I continued with Science trying to explain what Hazards were.

I found that the biggest problem is English vocabulary so I taught some words using drawings on the board for helmet, glove, goggles, earmuffs, and nose mask. During this whole time kids are up and down, in and out of the room - some watching and some not while I struggled to act out and explain the reasoning behind everything. When that finished they were supposed to have P.E. and then a free period and then I.C.T which is some computer class - which none of those ever really happen, that is just what is on the schedule.

The problem this week is that the water wells are broken so they call kids out of school to go and fetch water, so by about 1:00 in the afternoon the whole class is about empty. We then played an art game where they drew pictures that I signed. Then I had 3 girls who were really intrigued in learning names for the parts of the body. I felt really accomplished after that so it was a great day. I went into another JSS class at about 1:30 and helped 2 boys with some math, linear equations, which is fun to help with but really difficult to explain in sign language without a solid language foundation. My day is filled with many ups and downs as you can see :)


Yes all the kids that are at the school are deaf, but they have various degrees. I had the most amazing experience today meeting a girl named Sylvia who is deaf and blind. She is incredible, when you sign to her she holds your hands and can tell what you are saying. She had a book from a previous volunteer that was the Book of Mormon stories in Braille, and she was telling us about some of the characters in there. She is really sweet and can tell who you are so easily after the first time you meet her. Very smart, it blows me away.

We don't see their families because during the school termsl they actually live there in dorms but they are very open about describing their families and like when you ask them. I think the way it works is they have 3 terms, each 14 weeks. They first start in October, but then after that I don't know the time they have for each break. Right now the oldest kids at the junior high are not here because they took their final test at the beginning of this term and are waiting for the results to see if they can move on so they are living at home. The hardest thing about this culture is how rough the kids can be. The girls are having a really difficult time at the primary because the kids literally BEAT each other, they are cruel and it is so difficult for them to control. The real problem is that when deaf kids are born they are left to just wonder basically as they are raised without anyone giving them orders for what to do. So when they are finally brought to school, sometimes not until the age of 8, they don't know how to follow directions, don't have a language foundation, and are used to doing whatever they want. It is very hard for these teachers, and I can see why they would get so frustrated. But I also don't agree when they use a cane or beating to punish the kids.

Also, in class if a student answers a question wrong the teacher outright will call them stupid and lazy and tell them they can't learn. It's a tough cycle, and one we can't break on our own, But I'm also coming to realize that even helping one student understand a concept that they can build on then that can make a difference. The great thing is that they love you from the first second just because of your skin. I am having a great time here but there are a lot of hard things. I am going to have to be creative, and take one day at a time :)

Wow it has taken so long to get to an internet, it is crazy between the internet servers and the power being off and everything. We have checked at this cafe in another city three times now and it is finally open, wahoo! Yeah my hair is braided, I did it the second day and it hurt! It only cost bout $10 with everything including the hair to add with it so it is a good experience I guess.

The house that we are staying at is big and nice compared to where I was before, I share a room with two girls, one is Kelsey Parker. We have a fan in there and it's connected to an inside bathroom that actually has a bathtub that we can shower in and a toilet - no running water still but I am excited about what I have. We have a kitchen with a little fridge for our water, a living room with padded seats and a dining table. There are three rooms total, and two bathrooms. Nothing is nice like we have, but the walls are painted bright colors and we have fans so I am happy - except when the power goes off which is basically like every other day and then we are dripping in sweat. The bugs haven't been a problem for me at all - we see lizards ALL the time running around - a few in our house this last week. That is a little creepy. So I still sleep under my bug net. We get bread in the morning and then we have a cook that brings food around 6:30 or 7 every night. It is an adventure what we will get - I like the food though. We actually had hot dogs the other night - just the meat, with plantain. So random.

The sign language has been a lot harder than I ever expected. I really work on that hard all the time but it is a big challenge for me. I was very surprised with how different the signing really is here. I hate to call it "messy" but it is definitely a different "accent" that includes different signs and a different way of signing so understanding is a challenge! It is getting easier each day, but I still have a long way to go. I love love after school finishes around 2 and just talking with the teens about anything or working one on one with someone, but I just don't think teaching a whole class is my thing :)

School starts at 8:05 and the junior high is broken up into prep, 1, 2, & 3 classes. They actually have a schedule with what subject is taught each hour...but this is Ghana and things just don't run on a schedule very well here. We find the majority of the time the kids really don't have a teacher in the front so they have old books and are working on whatever they can. They may have some english or math problems to be worked out on the board. The problem is so often one kid will answer and then they all copy each other's papers, then when you ask if they understand they say yes. Some concepts are HARD to explain in sign language - especially English. In my ASL 301 class last semester we talked about what's called Total Communication which is basically what these kids have learned. It is a way of communicating but isn't a solid language to begin with - then when English is taught it can be SO confusing for the students. Yesterday one class had a math problem that had to do with using a compass, angles, and lenght measurements of a triangle. Then there was a word problem dealing with the cost of bags of beans - it was so hard to explain the concept of finding out how much 6 bags of beans costs when you are given the cost of 10 bags because it is a little abstract - it's not something that they can see right then - it's like imagining these bags of beans and money and it becomes so confusing for them. It's funny because there are a few times that I think "Oh man, I hope that I can remember how to even do this!"

The school has wooden desks, and most of the time the classes will have 6-12 students in there. The blackboard is often chipping and the kids desks are written all over. They have notebooks but when they work on assignments their papers are often scattered everywhere. It's fun to go outside and be with the younger kids who just mob you - hugging and touching and searching you for any sign of skin other than white. Yesterday they were looking at my scalp and were so amazed that it was white too! They love when we bring pictures of family and I am always asked how many brothers and sisters I have or how old my parents are.

Most nights a couple boys from the high school will come come and eat our extra food and talk. I was really intimidated with the signing at first but I think it's so fun now because their signing is easier to understand than the kids. The girls that work in the primary school have a lot of work cut out for them because of how wild the kids can be. They have to teach the basic concepts of numbers, colors, letters - meanwhile keeping the kids interested and still.

The kids really are so happy here and some are so eager to learn. The one thing I hate about the culture is when they beat on each other, or the teachers can beat the kids - it feels so cruel, and yet it's not like we can barge in there and say no that isn't right! So they have punishment, but then most of the time at the J.S.S. it seems like the kids can just wander in and out of the classroom however they please. They are a beautiful people.

It's amazing how I feel like I was really just here last summer, that I never really left. As soon as I got off the plane and smelled Ghana it was like a flood of memories - but I forgot how hot it can get here!

My experience so far is similar but also very different in many ways. I am really loving it. Two months of this......definately different than home!

Beginning my journey

Here I go again!  It's a late night, early morning, sad goodbyes, long flight, and then culture shock.  I am really excited to go back to Ghana again, it will be a different city this time going further north than last year.  I will be working at a Deaf school in Mampong until July 18th at the secondary school, or the Jr. High school aged kids.  It is a little surreal to be leaving without a lot of preparation because I have been to Ghana before.  I am nervous, excited, and curious about my new journey ahead!